Which Planet Rules The Day You Were Born?

by Robert Wilkinson

There are 7 days of the week and 7 so-called sacred planets. Is there a correlation, and how does the day of the week we were born affect us?

Today we take a new look at why certain days of the week have different qualities. Is "Monday's child fair of face, and Tuesday's child full of grace?" If you've ever wondered if the day of the week you were born mattered, then by all means read on.

There is a very old anonymous poem in the Western world that goes, “Monday’s child is fair of face, Tuesday’s child is full of grace, Wednesday’s child is full of woe, Thursday’s child has far to go, Friday’s child is loving and giving, Saturday’s child works hard for a living, but the child that's born on the Sabbath day is bright, bonnie, good and gay.” While this sounds somewhat arbitrary, in fact it does bear an astrological correspondence. The rulerships of the different days of the week can also be discerned by the names of the days themselves.

Monday is taken from "Moon's day." Tuesday comes from "Tyr's day," the Norse god of war, and thus is associated with the planet we call Mars. Wednesday is derived from "Woden's day," another Nordic god with the attributes we associate with Mercury. Thursday is "Thor's day," Jupiter in our system, and Friday is "Frigga's day," Venus in our system. Saturday is of course "Saturn's day," and Sunday is the "Sun's day."

I have found through the years that the day of the week we're born really does influence our disposition to some degree. That said, we have all the planets and signs in our charts, and thus have all the energies “of the week” at our disposal. How our planets function for better or worse depends on our awareness, self-control, and maturity.

As for the poem, I find some of the associations interesting, but again, they do not tell the whole story. Though the Moon does seem to be associated with being full of face, it seems askew for Mars to be "full of grace," since grace is a trait usually associated with Venus.

Of course, we are also told through the planetary dualities that Mars involves us learning “grace versus sin,” with “sin” an old archery term for “missing the mark.” Perhaps Mars-ruled people of antiquity did need grace (to survive!) and the need to show grace (to those who got them "fired up.")

I suppose that Mercury (Wednesday) ruled people are often "full of woe," since Magicians often are known for their somewhat grumpy approach to life. I’ve observed that the arid (and even pessimistic) quality of the mind associated with dispassionate experimentation does often lead to sorrow, since the mind alone cannot fulfill our need to be human, with all the feelings associated with being that.

Thursday's connection to Jupiter fits the "far to go" part of our poem, and of course, Venus (Friday) is very much "loving and giving" when it is functioning in a healthy way. Saturn's children often do "work hard for a living," and the Sun does confer brightness, "sunniness," and goodness when functioning at its best.

Again, though, we have all the planets within us, and it's no more fair to say that Mercury is always woeful than it is to say the Sun is always good. Over the years I have observed the planetary correspondences to be spot on regarding individual birth charts, and very definitely has some accuracy in terms of what day your progressed chart is calculated for.

In terms of the work week, it's easy to see how the Mars quality of Tuesday shows itself as the need to be gracious as the work week gets cranked up and the "hump day" of Wednesday is easily associated with Mercury's need to coordinate the host of things that need to get done. Venus ruling Friday is a no-brainer, and I suppose if we were all “loving and giving” on Fridays it would create some great momentum for the weekend!

It seems like Saturn ruling Saturday may have applied when that was just another work day, but may need some re-evaluation in our modern times. As for Sunday, well, it may very well be that we can achieve a greater brightness and/or lightness of being on that day.

In any case, find out what day you were born, and check it out. It may be more accurate in terms of correlating with your birth chart than you suspect.

Tags:
Friday’s child is loving and giving, Monday’s child is fair of face, planetary rulers of days of the week, Saturday’s child works hard for a living, Thursday’s child has far to go, Tuesday’s child is full of grace, Wednesday’s child is full of woe, what planet rules what day

Comments

Interesting, Robert. I was born on Friday and Venus rules my chart with a Libra ascendant and Venus in Taurus. Venus is the only planet in my chart in its sign of rulership.

Thursday, so with sun and merc in 9th it is quite relevant, Jupiter conjunct IC indicates he came into this world with me bringing a connection or "ET phone home" line to ancient philosophy and I have to be honest that even though i did know Jupiter rules thursday having learned the french words for the days of the week, I never considered the connection or Jupiter having that much relevance in my chart regarding the day I was born. Fascinating as always!

Nice one. I was born on a Sunday. My AC is at 23d43 Leo. My sun is in Sag. Sag is ruled by Jupiter. My Jupiter is in Taurus. Taurus is ruled by Venus. My Venus is in Scorpio. Scorpio is ruled by Mars and Pluto. My Pluto/Mars (and Uranus too) ruled by Mercury. My Mercury is ruled by Saturn cause it s in Capricorn. My Saturn is in Aquarius at 29 d and that is ruled by Saturn and Uranus. Is it possible to have two depositors? Or I should say final depositors.